Partial support is requested to host a fifth Conference on the Molecular Biology of Hearing and Deafness. The Conference will be held in Bethesda, MD in October, 2004. The specific aims of the Conference are to: 1) review progress in molecular biology related to hearing and deafness, by inviting scientists involved in significant recent research to present their results, and by soliciting free papers reporting research at the molecular level related to the auditory system; 2) facilitate interaction and collaboration between different laboratories engaged in molecular auditory research, and between basic scientists and clinicians with related interests in the molecular biology of deafness; 3) encourage research on the molecular biology of hearing and deafness, especially as integrated with other aspects of auditory system biology; and 4) review recent developments in the broader field of molecular biology, and obtain an unbiased and critical appraisal of molecular biology research currently being performed in the auditory system by invited outside discussants. Topics of the Conference include, but are not limited to: molecular genetics and gene mapping of inherited deafness; mutational heterogeneity and deafness phenotypes; families of functionally related deafness genes; complex genetics in inherited deafness; molecular regulation of auditory development; genetics of cell phenotype in the inner ear; molecular basis of hair cell transduction; central auditory system; auditory tissue specific gene activity and expression profiling; cochlear damage, regeneration and repair; molecular diagnostics of deafness mutations; molecular biology of otologic disease: etiology and therapy. Partial support is requested to defray travel costs of invited participants and to permit a registration fee low enough to encourage participation by junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students.